A Quiet Place
by Zack1187
Summary: Ruby just recently moved in with three older girls in the city of Vale after a childhood living in the nearby countryside known as Patch. After a visit to a hair salon owned, and ran by Roman Torchwick, she meets Neopolitian, and the two begin to spend more time together.


A loud, sharp knock, that reverberated through the house, undoubtedly waking a few of the occupants that would have been asleep at this time, around 9 A.M to be precise. A girl with long, wavy black hair looked towards the door, a glare on her features as she took a sip out of the black coffee mug, before she sat it down, and stood up from her place at the dining room table.

"It better be urgent, or I'm going to kill whoever that is." She spoke in a quiet, and obviously angry voice, to no one in particular as she stomped towards the front door. She paused for a moment, and yawned, before she opened the door, coming face to face with an older man.

He was pale, and had a bored expression, pink eyes staring at the woman suspiciously, his messy black hair, shifting slightly as he tilted his head. He was dressed in a simple white button up, black pants, with a red coat on, to protect from the relatively colder Autumn weather. The girl was simply dressed in a black silk nightgown.

"My niece here?" He asked gruffly, glaring at the girl in front of him some more. Her amber eyes narrowed at him, waiting for him to explain who exactly he was talking about, and how she would know. He obviously noticed this, because he soon elaborated. "Ruby Rose, short, pale, black hair red highlights, silver eyes." He explained further, the girl nodded.

"She's up in her room, I would assume sleeping." The girl told him, before stepping aside. "Do you want to come in? I can go get her for you." The girl offered, the man nodded, stepping into the house, and looking around suspiciously. Behind him, the girl closed the door, and moved towards the stairs before his voice stopped her.

"So, who exactly are you?" He asked, glaring at the woman, who simply glared back at him. He obviously was protective of his niece, it made sense, an unknown woman, living with her, a innocent seventeen year old girl. Though she was only four years older herself, she understood why he would be suspicious of her.

"Cinder Fall, and you are?" She asked politely, as she placed one foot on the steps, waiting for the conversation to simply end so she could get the girl up, but she wasn't going to be blatantly rude to him, especially since she already had an idea of who he was.

"Private Detective Qrow Branwen. How exactly do you know Ruby, Cinder?" He asked, as he glared at her, she simply smiled a bit. She was right about who he was, Ruby hadn't told her about this, but the girl had only been living there a month after all.

"I'm simply her roommate Mister Detective, I promise you. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I could go get Ruby for you." Cinder told him, and it was the truth, she had no interest in Ruby, other than being roommates, and friends, the girl was too young and immature for her tastes. Qrow simply nodded, and placed his hands on his hips, looking around the house some more, as Cinder went up the stairs to get Ruby.

From Qrows position near the front door, he looked to his left, seeing a kitchen, with white tile floor, a dining room next to it, not too big, and a wooden table, with a black mug of coffee sitting on it. He assumed it was Cinders. Next to the dining room was the stairs that Cinder had gone up to get Ruby, white carpet on them. Directly in front of Qrow was a living room set up, a long couch that curved, and also braced against the right wall of the house.

The couch was black, with a red recliner not too far from it, a large tv sat in the corner, on a shelf, with several game consoles under it. Next to that was a closed door. A coffee table was in front of the couch, a scarf was draped on it, a light pink color. To Qrows right were shelves, filled with movies, games, books, collectible statues, a couple glass awards, and a trophy or two. Another table sat behind the couch, directly across from the one in the dining room, a smaller tv sat on it, a couple stickers on it, he smiled as he recognized where those had come from.

Years ago he had bough a pack of stickers last minute for Ruby's birthday, she was around five at the time. He had rushed inside the house, late for the party, everything was already being packed up by Tai, and a seven year old Yang. Tai saw him and shot a glare at him, snapping at him to find Ruby, Qrow just huffed, and made his way into the living room, where Ruby was sat, coloring with some new looking crayons on a piece of paper.

He kneeled down, and sheepishly presented the young Ruby with the pack of stickers he had bought, feeling like a terrible uncle, however Ruby took them, with a large smile, and a loud laugh. ' _You're the best Uncle Qrow, I love these!'_ Of course she did, she was Ruby, that perpetually happy little girl. Since then, every year on her birthday he had bought her the same packet of stickers, along with whatever else he had happened to buy her, the latest being a tv.

A few minutes later, Cinder came back down the stairs, and ignored Qrow completely as she moved to her coffee, taking another sip, thankful it was still hot. She needed it to get up in the mornings. Qrow just looked over at her, she noticed his gaze upon her and looked over at him. Before the two could say a word, a gasp from the top of the stairs was heard, as Ruby rushed down them.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled, as she barreled down the stairs at incredible speed, Cinder simply winced at the loud squeal of happiness that came from Ruby. That girl was too energetic for this early in the morning, and way too loud to be normal. Something had to be wrong with her. Ruby latched herself around her Uncle Qrow, as she hugged him tightly, he simply frowned at her.

"This isn't a social call Ruby." He told her sternly, Ruby deflated at his tone, and let go of him, staring at the ground. Qrow smiled. "But I'm happy to see you too Squirt." he said, as he reached down, and ruffled her hair, Ruby swatted his hand away, and frantically tried to smooth her hair down, after he had messed it up.

"So, why are you here Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked, tilting her head at him, he glared at her, and crossed his arms, making her shrink under his intense gaze. She was still dressed in her pajamas, black silk with tiny red roses dotting them. Those were new, she must be gotten them recently, Qrow just sighed rather heavily.

"You've got work today, your first day. You were supposed to be there thirty minutes ago." Qrow told his niece firmly, Ruby widened her eyes, as she stared up at her uncle, that couldn't be right. She was sure she started the next day, not today.

"I thought I started tomorrow!" Ruby told him, Qrow simply shook his head at her, as he pulled out his phone. Cinder stood up, and moved through the house towards her room, which happened to be right next to the tv, she opened her door, and entered her room. Ruby simply whined as Qrow showed her the calendar on his phone. Yup, she was supposed to start today.

"Nope. So, you better go up, and get ready. I'm gonna call Oz, and explain things to him, but you cant do this again Ruby, he's nice but strict, he doesn't tolerate tardiness trust me, there's a reason he needed a new intern. Now, go on Ruby." Qrow said, Ruby nodded at her uncle. He had gotten her a job at the law firm that Ozpin ran, as Ozpin's intern. Ruby turned, and went back up the stairs, rushing a bit. Qrow smiled, and took out his phone, dialing Ozpin's number.

 _ **-A Quiet Place-**_

A man smiled, as he sauntered over to the fridge, his orange hair styled perfectly, a black bowler hat on his head, wearing a white coat, he opened the door to the freezer side of the fridge, and looked around, before he sighed sadly, and turned, to look at his roommate as she came out of her room, having just finished getting ready for the day.

"Neo, I ask you to do one thing, and you have forsaken me!" He exclaimed dramatically, gesturing wildly at her, she just narrowed her eyes at him, and titled her head in response, silently asking him what he was talking about. He moved aside, and pointed inside the freezer, at something, or rather a lack of something. "You were supposed to buy Ice Cream yesterday!" He reminded his roommate, who simply glared at him.

The mute girl, who usually spoke with a note book, or sign language opted for a single gesture that encapsulated everything she needed to say in just one movement. With a small smile, she raised her middle finger at him, as if saying. 'Fuck you Roman' He smiled at his mute roommate, and business partner, as he shut the door to the freezer.

"I guess we'll have to make an extra stop today, because I'm feeling like having some ice cream before opening up the salon. Sound good?" Roman asked, as he moved away from the fridge, and towards the door to the apartment. Neo moved with him, dressed simply in a light pink t shirt, and brown skinny jeans, and black shoes, Roman grabbed his cane, which was beside the door, and smiled at the multicolored girl, as he opened up the door to the apartment.

The two had lived together for sometime now, Roman having taken the younger girl in years ago, back when she was at the orphanage he used to stay at himself. On one of his weekly visits he had seen her, a frail, mute girl, around the age of ten. She was new, he had just recently turned eighteen, and opted to adopt the girl, he knew one could go their whole time there without anyone adopting them, or noticing them at all. It often lead to them getting in with a bad group. He just couldn't leave the frail looking mute girl to her fate. They had been living together for eight years now, in a few months it would be nine.

Since Roman had adopted her, Neo had lived with him, he did his best to support them in times of stress, working his days away, keeping her in school, he had been injured a few months before he adopted Neo, a rather bad incident that left him permanently injured. Needing a cane if he was to stand, or walk for long periods of time, his leg, and hip being injured quite badly.

The company that owned the truck that hit him had been forced to pay for his surgery on his leg, and compensate him for the damages. He had used the money to make sure Neo stayed in a good school, and keep an apartment, and food on the table, anything they needed. He didn't want Neo to grow up, or have a life like he had. Scrounging for food on the best of days before he lived in an apartment, without a proper education. He wanted her to have a better chance than he had.

A year or so prior he had, with Neo started up a hair salon, claiming it had always been his dream to own one, and make the world a beautiful place, as he had put it. He would handle most of the paperwork, and setting up appointments, payments, schedules, and Neo would cut the hair, style it, anything their clients required. With the help of the other workers of course. It was going quite well for them, something Roman was more than happy about.

The two made their way down the building their apartment was in, they lived on the third floor, they both generally disliked the stairs they had to traverse daily, but they had made a home here, so it was enough to stay. As they made their way out of the building, Roman holding the door with Neo, she smiled at him, and he merely bowed dramatically to her, before letting the door close, and walking with her to the car.

It wasn't anything fancy, a few years old, a four seater, colored a dark blue. Neo got in the passenger side, buckling her seatbelt by the time Roman got in, placing his cane next to his seat, and buckling his own seatbelt. He started up the car, and pulled out of their parking spot, humming a tune quietly to himself.

Neo, rather uncomfortable with the general silence, leaned forwards, and turned on the radio, finding a song she, and Roman liked in a matter of seconds. Roman turned towards her, slightly offended, even though he did enjoy the song she had put on. He looked like someone had just told him his hat looked stupid, just utterly perplexed that they would do such a thing, Neo just looked at him, wondering what the problem was.

"I was humming you a nice little tune!" He told her, sounding rather offended, Neo just rolled her eyes. "How dare you turn on music, when I'm trying my absolute best to entertain you." He scoffed at her, before he continued on his dramatic speech. "After everything I've done for you Neo, you do me dirty like this. You should feel bad." He told her, Neo just smirked at him, and flipped him off once again, he merely smiled back at her.

"At least you picked a good song." He reconciled, as he relaxed back in his seat, Neo just smiled at him, before looking back out her window, examining the town. They were passing by Ozpin's Beacon of Law at the moment. Two people were getting out a dark red convertible. One wearing a red jacket, being an older man, and the other being a smaller girl, wearing a red hoodie over a black shirt, and skirt, with red lining at the bottom, with black leggings, and shoes.

"Are you sure this is okay Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked, as she fingered the edges of her skirt, looking at her Uncle with a slight tinge of worry as a dark blue car passed by. Qrow just smiled at his Niece, as he locked the doors, not like it would matter, but still. Ruby was pretty nervous about her first day at work, it helped that she lived pretty close, in the Fall Housing Complex, with only happened to be a block or so away.

"Yeah, Ozpin's not real big on formal attire, for his intern's at least. You'll be fine in that Ruby, so long as you don't screw up too bad." Qrow told her, with a slight smirk. Ruby pouted at him, as the two moved up to the rather intimidating building, Qrow opening the door for her, she smiled, and walked inside, it was cool in here, with dark green carpet.

"But… What if he doesn't like me?" Ruby asked, she still felt a little wary of this job. Qrow had managed to get her this job, so she could live in the city, and support herself. She heard her mother worked here as Ozpin's intern herself for a few years before she graduated law school, and became a successful lawyer in her own right, that is, until she passed away. But Ruby wanted to follow in her footsteps, Ozpin had noticed after Qrow had pointed this out to him, he was rather impressed by the young girl.

"You'll be fine Ruby, just be yourself, and do you job, obviously. Everything will be fine. If anyone harasses you, tell me, and I'll deal with them. Not like I think that'll happen of course." Qrow said as he led Ruby through the halls of the building, and to an elevator. The receptionist letting him through with a simple glance, she recognized him from his many visits.

"But-" Ruby began once again, as the elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside, Qrow interrupted her, by placing both his hands on her shoulders, and making her face him, as he leaned down to look at her on her level. He wanted his Niece to stop worrying, and just roll with the punches.

"Listen, Ruby. You'll be fine, okay? Trust me." Was all Qrow had to say before Ruby nodded. He smiled at her, content, and released her, standing back up straight. He hit the button on the elevator, and it went up. The two settled into a comfortable silence, before Ruby decided to ask a question.

"So, how did you meet Ozpin?" Ruby asked innocently, looking up at her Uncle, he looked down at her for a moment, and hummed, trying to recall the story. It took a few seconds before he spoke, he placed his hand on his chin and stroked his beard.

"Well, I was a little older than you are now, at the time… I was studying to become a Detective. The guy I was studying under got hired by Ozpin's Beacon of Law. The two of us went over, and met with Ozpin, and that's pretty much it." Qrow explained to her, seeing nothing wrong with that story. Clearly Ruby did however, because she glared up at her Uncle.

"No, that's boring! I meant like, how did you meet my mom, and dad?" Ruby asked, Qrow widened his eyes, and nodded. He supposed Ruby would have already heard this story from Tai's perspective, or Summers, but she probably didn't remember that. He saw no harm in telling her his side of things, with some obvious omissions, like Raven, or more accurately who she was in regards to him.

"Well, as part of that job, I was put on a team, my superior said he would handle one side of the investigation, and I would do the other. My first real test in the field. I was to work with Ozpin's current intern, your mother, she would help me with the intricacies of law, and contact Ozpin, also this hot headed guy studying to become a doctor, he would help with the medical side of things, that was Tai by the way… Also, a local gang member, she had a relation to the case."

"Who exactly was she?" Ruby asked, curious, her father had always avoided the subject entirely, so she never knew much beyond that, and her name. Raven. Why didn't anyone talk about her, she hoped Qrow would say something, but he looked rather unwilling to divulge anything about this mystery woman.

"Well… That's pretty complica-" Qrow stopped as the elevator dinged, and the doors opened up. He internally let out a sigh of relief, he really didn't want to have to explain to Ruby the complex relationship Raven had within the confines of their group. He shook his head, and smiled at Ruby. "I'll tell you later, okay Ruby?" Qrow said, Ruby pouted at him, she really doubted he would actually tell her anything, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Okay…" She replied, Qrow nodded, and the two left the elevator, heading down the row of desks, and towards a door at the end. It was an oak door, with clouded glass, golden lettering on the glass read Ozpin's Office. Ruby looked over at the desk in front of it, slightly intimidated, there was an unsure looking young man sitting there, trying to organize the mountain of paperwork.

"Having trouble Oscar?" Qrow asked the young man, who looked up at him, jumping at the voice, he nodded. The boy was working as a temp for Ozpin before Ruby had been officially hired there. He really worked in the mail room, delivering paperwork to everyone who needed it, and other various forms of mail at their request. He was also frequently put on duty to deliver coffee, or beverages to Ozpin, and whoever his current intern was.

"Yes sir, is this your niece sir?" Oscar asked, looking at the seventeen year old girl, who smiled at him, and waved, in a friendly matter. Qrow nodded, and turned the handle to Ozpin's door. Ruby just looked to her uncle as he opened the door, Oscar looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Ozpin was very clear that one was to knock before entering the room.

"Oscar, I thought I had told you to knock before…" Ozpin stopped as he looked up, seeing his old friend Qrow, holding the door open, as a younger girl walked in sheepishly, her cheeks bright red, the same shade as her hoodie. Her silver eyes were filled with worry at being yelled at, or fired because of her Uncle, and his utter disregard for the rules.

"Hey Oz, just dropping Ruby off." Qrow told him, Ozpin nodded, standing up from his chair, and walking towards the two, with a warm smile. He was dressed in a suit, black jacket, and white button up, with a green scarf around his neck, he smiled at Ruby as she timidly waved at him. He extended his hand to her, as a gesture of friendship.

"Hello Ruby, I'm glad you decided to show up." Ozpin told her, in a voice that made her feel at ease, Ruby relaxed a bit, and reached forwards, shaking his hand. Wincing as she noticed how sweaty her palms were. Ozpin was about to speak when Ruby interrupted him loudly.

"Sorry, Mr. Ozpin, my hands are all sweaty…" Ruby admitted embarrassedly, Ozpin simply smiled at her, and chuckled. Ruby looked up at him as he released her hand. He didn't seem to mind, Qrow smiled and pat his Niece on the head, drawing her attention to him.

"I gotta go now Ruby. You'll be great, trust me." Qrow told his Niece, who smiled at him, and nodded. She turned, and wrapped her arms around her Uncle's torso, he chuckled, and hugged her back, before they let go of each other. He looked to Ozpin. "I might have to come back later this week Oz, got a case I could use your help with." Qrow told the lawyer, who simply nodded.

"I would happily assist you with whatever you needed." Ozpin told him, Qrow nodded, and looked to Ruby once again, smiling down at her confidently, before he turned, and walked away, towards the elevator. Ruby's nerves came back, and hit her full force, Qrow being there was something she was okay with, but now that she was alone, she was panicking once again.

"Um… So… Mr. Ozpin…" Ruby began, as she looked to Ozpin, who looked over at her, and a smile, raising an eyebrow. "Um… Where am I gonna work?" She asked him, she felt so stupid, she had already seen where she was going to work, it was where Oscar worked, or was working temporarily. Ozpin however just smiled at her, and lead her out of his office, to just outside of it, where Oscar was looking at some papers in a frightened manner.

"Oscar, would you please go and get me a refill on my Coffee, and miss Rose, what would you like?" Ozpin asked, looking down at the young teen, who blinked rapidly after realizing he was expecting her to answer. Oscar got up from the desk, and looked to her expectantly as well.

"Um… Hot chocolate?" Ruby half asked-half answered, Ozpin nodded, and looked to Oscar expectantly, who nodded, and walked away to get their beverages. Ozpin then lead Ruby up to her desk. She was still vastly intimidated by the sheer amount of papers on the desk. Ozpin must have noticed her eyes widening, because he addressed this issue first.

"Don't worry, not all of that is yours. Oscar was still working on part of his mail room duty. He prefers that he do most of it, so he brought that work with him. Your only job for today is this." Ozpin said, as he placed his hand on a large stack of paper in a bin near the edge of the desk, right next to an empty bin that was identical to it. Ruby still stared at it. "I know it seems I'm asking a lot of you on your first day, but it's only because I've seen your record, I know how smart and capable you are." Ozpin reassured her, Ruby nodded, looking up to Ozpin, her silver eyes filled with determination, she could do this!

"I wont let you down." Ruby promised him, the white haired man smiled at her, nodding at her, patting her back once, before he turned, and walked back into his office. Ruby let out a sigh, and sat down at her new desk. She moved the papers that seemed to be from the mailroom out of her way, and searched the drawers of her desk for a pen, she found one, next to a long wooden triangle. She grabbed them both, and flipped over the wooden triangle, to see a golden plaque on it, reading ' _Ruby Rose'._ Ruby smiled, and placed it near the front of her desk, so that everyone coming up to Ozpin's office would see it. She then grabbed a folded couple of papers from the bin, and placed them in front of her.

She noticed a note on top of the stack, recognizing her Fathers handwriting. She smiled as she read it. ' _Congrats on the new job Ruby! I'm so happy for you, check the bottom drawer of your desk for a gift. P.S. No, it's not cookies, those come when you come home.'_ Ruby deflated a bit, at the gift not being cookies, but quickly perked back up once she realized all she had to do was return to her childhood home to get them, which she had planned to do this weekend actually.

Ruby opened up the bottom drawer of her desk, to see a shiny black thing. She raised her eyebrows and pulled it up, she had a feeling she knew what it was, which was confirmed when she pulled out the new, expensive looking laptop. Her eyes widened, she hadn't even realized this model had come out yet! She loved computers, and technology, taking them apart, and modifying them to be better, and better. It was more of a hobby than anything else to her though. This was the newest model of this computer, and it was expensive. She really had to go home and hug her dad for this.

He hadn't been all too thrilled when she told him she was going to leave their little house in the country to live in the city. It was only two hours away, but he still didn't like the idea of her living so far from him yet. To him, she was still his little girl, who would fall, and scrape her knees, and cry until he came and brought her back into the house, patching her up, with a smile, and a loving embrace.

She didn't want to leave either, but it was her only option, she wanted to branch out, and experience things. When she saw an opening living with three other girls in a house, she just knew she had to take it. Plus, it was the only place she could afford, and she was scared of living alone. After all she had lived with Yang all her life, it would be weird to not have a house with someone older than her.

Her roommates being Cinder Fall, her family happened to own the housing complex the girls were staying at. She was mysterious, and surprisingly very nice, at least normally, sometimes, like in the mornings when she hadn't had her coffee, she was pretty mean. But usually she was pleasant to be around, giving Ruby sound advice, and showing her around the city. Like a big sister in a way, all her roommates felt like that in some way.

Another roommate of Ruby's was Coco Adel, an up and coming fashion designer. She had been quite appalled when she had examined Ruby's wardrobe the first day she was there, as she had insisted on going through her closet. The next day she took Ruby out, and spent quite a hefty sum of Lien on the redhead, claiming she couldn't let her roommate live in such a world where she didn't have any designer, or fancy clothes. Ruby was still angry that Coco had forced her to try out wearing some heels, and bought them just in case Ruby had a date she had to look nice for.

Her last roommate was Pyrrha, a very nice, very tall girl, with very long red hair. She was a generally famous fighter, being dubbed the Invincible Girl. Ruby had actually known Pyrrha for quite a while before she moved in, about two years now. She and Ruby were apart of the same book club, along with Yang, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. After a week of living with Pyrrha, Ruby had discovered that she actually harbored a crush on Jaune Arc, but the red head wouldn't make a move, and Jaune was too thick to see what his partner in the book club, and best friend in real life really wanted from their relationship.

Ruby was drawn out of her thoughts about her roommates when a cup of hot chocolate was placed on her desk, she looked up to see Oscar smile at her, before he moved and knocked on Ozpin's door. The lawyer's voice told him he could enter, and he did so, giving his boss the coffee, before leaving, and shutting the door behind him. He then moved over to Ruby's desk, and began gathering his paperwork from the mailroom, smiling at Ruby.

"Good luck Ruby, also feel free to give me a call whenever you need anything." Oscar told the girl, as he gathered all his paperwork, and scooped all of it into his hands, Ruby nodded as she got back to work, sipping her hot chocolate, he tilted his head at her, as she looked up, and smiled at him.

"This is actually really good! Thanks Oscar!" She thanked the boy, who nodded, before walking off with his paperwork. Ruby returned to her task, typing away at her computer, and glancing at the stack of papers she had to eventually get to. She smiled, as she finished the first one, and placed it into the empty bin, feeling rather accomplished with herself… Until she realized she had to complete the rest of the stack as well, and grabbed another bundle of papers from the top. She wasn't going to let anyone down, not Ozpin, or Uncle Qrow, or her dad, or her… mom. She was going to make them all proud with how hard she worked!

 _ **-A Quiet Place-**_

"I'm such an idiot! Ozpin's probably planning on how he's going to fire me the second I walk into the office tomorrow!" Ruby whined, leaning back on the couch in a deflated manner. Next to her Coco was sitting on the couch, and examining different types, and colors of fabric to accompany the pink scarf that was sitting on the coffee table. Pyrrha was watching something on the tv, Cinder was still at work for the night, but was due to be back anytime now.

"I'm sure you did fine." Coco reassured Ruby, in a voice that told the younger girl she wasn't really listening to her at all. She was too wrapped up in finding the perfect accompaniment to this pink scarf, it had been eluding her for days now, she never had this much trouble with a simple scarf before. Pyrrha, noticing Coco's lack of focus on Ruby took it on herself to reassure their friend.

"I'm sure he wont fire you Ruby, what even happened to make you think that?" Pyrrha asked, Ruby had walked in around five minutes ago, on the brink of tears, complaining that her Uncle Qrow would be mad at her, and how she would have to move home because of how clumsy she was, further proving Yang right, and giving her more ammo.

"Well, I kinda spilled hot chocolate on my desk, and ruined a couple of the papers I was working on. I saved my computer, but still! Ozpin doesn't have interns for long, and I promised my Uncle I wouldn't screw up, and I ruined the case file!" Ruby complained, Coco sat up, glaring at the girl, and placing a hand on her mouth to prevent the loud cries coming from the girl. She gave her a stern look, making Ruby feel even worse.

"Ruby, you know I love you, but please relax. It's your first day, and everyone screws up on their first day somehow." Coco told her, Ruby nodded, as Coco took her hand away from her mouth, and smirked at the girl. "Plus, I need you to be quieter, or help me think of something to go with this scarf." Coco told her, Ruby pouted at her.

"I'll just screw that up too…" Ruby complained once again, sinking further into her seat, as she glanced up at the tv. Pyrrha smiled a bit, as she thought of a way to cheer the girl back up. Coco having generally given up for the night leaned back as well, and looked up at the tv.

"Look at it this way, you're still doing better than Jaune. He's gotten fired from his last three jobs in the middle of his first day." Pyrrha told her friend, making the younger girl smile, and let out a shrill laugh at her blonde friends expense. Coco winced a bit at the noise but said nothing of it, after a month of living with Ruby she had learned that the girl was typically very loud, something she and Cinder despised in the mornings before they had their coffee.

Before anyone could say anything in response, the door opened, and Cinder stepped inside the house, Ruby didn't bother getting up, as she heard Cinder taking off her shoes. Cinder took her coat off, and placed it on the rack, letting out an exasperated sigh, as she moved towards her roommates. She came around the couch, and sat next to Ruby, holding her head, the younger girl looked at her concerned.

"Are you okay Cinder?" Ruby asked, the woman nodded, before she relaxed a bit more, closing her eyes. Work tonight was hell, she never thought running a bar would be this taxing. Though she sat at her desk the whole night, the various complaints about them running out of one drink or another, their toilet getting clogged, and several brawls costing her drinking glasses, plus someone threw up all over a booth, she really wasn't happy, and she still had an appointment for her hair later that night.

"No. Work was so annoying tonight…" Cinder told the younger girl, who nodded. It seemed to be a mixed bag today. Pyrrha seemed to be the only one not having trouble with her work. Granted she was in training for her next big fight in a couple of weeks. "On top of that, I need to take a shower, because I have a haircut scheduled in… Like, an hour or so." Ruby perked up at this, as she brought a hand up to her own hair, it was longer than she usually liked to keep it, maybe it was time for a trim herself.

"Could I go along? I haven't had a haircut since a couple months before I moved here, so would you mind if I tagged along?" Ruby asked, Cinder looked at the girl, and shrugged. She stood up, and yawned slightly, looking down at Ruby, who stared expectantly up at her. She supposed it would be good for the girl to see more of the town, though she loathed the thought of Roman talking to her, he knew far too much about Cinder than she was comfortable with.

"Sure, if you want. Just let me take a quick shower first, some moron vomited all over one of my booths… That was in the beginning of the night, we couldn't get all of the smell out. I swear, I'm going to end up selling that bar eventually…" Cinder muttered, before she went off to her room, which had her own private bathroom attached to it. Ruby smiled a bit, and looked over to Coco, and Pyrrha, Coco had halfheartedly gone back to picking out fabrics, and colors to match the pink scarf, the Invincible Girl was quietly watching a tv, and texting Jaune on her scroll presumably.

Ruby stood up, and walked up the stairs, as her scroll went off in her pocket. She pulled it out, and looked at it, it was a message from her dad. She smiled, and opened it up, seeing Yang sitting on the couch, smiling at the camera, a little Corgi dog in her lap, one of her arms was petting the dog, and the other was hidden under a tied sleeve, much shorter than her other arm. The message attached read as. ' _Yang and Zwei miss you, so do I. You should come back home Ruby.'_ Ruby smiled at her dad, he meant well, but he was dead set on having her come back and live with him.

Ruby simply pocketed her phone, and made her way up the stairs. Her smile being replaced with a slight frown. A part of her really just wanted to go home… She hadn't felt right. She felt homesick, but she was determined to do this, so she couldn't let up because of a little feeling of missing home, her dream was more important to her than that. Her roommates were great, Qrow got her a great job, and she was finally learning more about the world.

But something was still… Missing to her. It felt hollow, this new life, and experience she was living. She didn't feel wholly comfortable here, she was just so used to her old life, living in a small house in the country with Yang, and her dad. The city felt so different to her, it was never quiet like the country. It made it harder to think, and focus, she preferred the quiet, but it was more than that, and also something she couldn't quite place. Oh well, she would figure it out later, right now she had to make sure she was ready to go with Cinder.

Ruby walked through the hallway, on the left was her room, the bathroom she used, and sometimes had to share with Pyrrha, or Coco when the other was in the bathroom they typically shared. Across from her bathroom was the upstairs washer and dryer behind a folding wooden door. At the far end slightly past the bathroom, and washer, and dryer room was Ruby's room.

The seventeen year old girl walked to her room, opening up the door, and slipping inside before she closed it behind her, and flipped on the lights. Ruby looked around, her room had black carpet, with the walls painted red. Coco had ensured that everyone's rooms were personalised to them so they would be comfortable. As far as Ruby knew Cinder, Coco, and Pyrrha were content to live in this house for quite a while. Cinders family owned the housing complex after all, and ensured Cinder would never get pushed out of her house due to a contract. This was only valid so long as the rent was paid on time every month, as well as the other necessary utilities.

Ruby and the others had a place to live for the foreseeable future, which was one less thing they would have to worry about. Ruby made her way over to her bed, which was on the left side of the room, in the corner. A bedside table with Ruby's new laptop on it. Across from Ruby's bed to the right was her closet. She moved over to it, and picked out some simple clothes. A black shirt, with her usual red hoodie, with a pair of black jeans. She quickly got changed, and slipped her scroll into her hoodie pocket.

Ruby looked around taking in her room, there was a window between her bed, and the closet, with a box still unopened of her things from her old room. A dresser next to the door, and a stand facing her bed where her TV, and console usually were located, but she had moved both of them downstairs for the past few days to spent more time around her roommates while playing games. Somethimes they joined her, or sometimes they just watched. They always had fun together though. Ruby was very happy they let her live with them.

The girl left her room, shutting the lights off, and the door behind her as she left. She made her way back downstairs, where Coco was frustratedly typing away at her scroll. Pyrrha was watching tv still,and messaging Jaune. Ruby sat back down on the couch, Coco turned to look at her, her lips forming a thin line as she did so, Ruby raised an eyebrow back at her.

"What?" Ruby asked, Coco simply shook her head, before humming as if she had thought of something great. She grabbed Ruby's sleeve, and pulled her towards the scarf on the table. "Um... Coco, why?"

"Ruby you beautiful girl you! Thats it, it needs red, and black! Its so simple, how could I have missed it?" Coco asked herself. Ruby just blinked at her.

"Didn't you already try both red, and black though?" Ruby asked, confused, Coco nodded.

"Yeah, but I never tried them together… I'm thinking… Pink layered over black, with red acting as the stitching, and used throughout, as if its the red string of fate binding pink and black together... That would be nice." Coco said, as she pulled a notepad from the table, and began writing down notes. Ruby just sat on the couch, passing the time watching tv with Pyrrha, while Coco scribbled away, trying to find the perfect design for the stitching in the scarf, this continuted for a decent amount of time, until Cinder finally came out of her room, looking completely rephreshed from her shower, wearing dark jeans, and a red shirt.

"Are you ready to leave little Rose?" Cinder asked, Ruby nodded, and pushed herself up. Cinder had sometimes called her by that nickname, being the only one to do so. Rubes, Rubles, Little Red, Squirt, those were more common from her various friends, Cinder was the only one to use Little Rose. Ruby, and Cinder made their way over to the door, both of them pulling their shoes on. Cinder looked back to Coco, and Pyrrha sitting on the couch, as she pulled on her jacket, which was black with a golden used for the zipper.

"If Mercury comes over here, give him whatever he needs, he said he'd be over sometime after work." Cinder informed the two roommates who weren't standing right next to her. Coco nodded, and put up and thumbs up to signal her understanding, Cinder, satisfied turned back towards the door, and opened it up, beckoning Ruby out first. "After you." Cinder said politely, Ruby smiled, and nodded as she exited the house, Cinder behind her, closing the door.

The cool autumn air hit them immediately, causing Ruby to shiver a bit, Cinder smirked, and placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, the younger girl looked up at her smirk. Cinder's hand was warm, in fact, from Ruby's typical tackle-hug combo attack she was fond of, she was convinced that Cinder was constantly warm, almost unnaturally so.

"Maybe you should have put on something warmer than a hoodie Little Rose." Cinder teased her lightly, before she moved over to her car, a dark red convertible, with gold trim on it. Ruby moved and got into the passenger side, pulling on her seatbelt, as Cinder pulled on her own, and started up the car. She pulled out of the parking space, the light of the sun was fading away quickly, as Cinder left the housing complex.

"Where is the salon?" Ruby asked, Cinder smirked a bit, as she answered the question.

"Not too far. Remember that clothing shop Coco took you to? Its right across from that." Cinder informed Ruby who nodded at the new information, satisfied. She would have to remember it if she liked how they did her hair, or the people. If Cinder let them touch her hair she figured the place had to be pretty good.

"Are they any good?" Ruby asked, she figured they were, but wanted to hear Cinder's opinion herself instead of just assuming. Cinder looked slightly conflicted for a moment, Ruby couldn't place why though.

"Yeah. Its more the people who own it that can be difficult, at the best of times." Cinder told her, Ruby just stared at her curiously, not fully understanding. Cinder elaborated, with a slightly unpleasant grimace, as if the very people being mentioned dampened her mood. "Roman Torchwick, he's a very… annoying person to deal with overall." Cinder didn't bother explaining further, Ruby understood her well enough to know what Cinder considered annoying.

"So, basically Mercury if he didn't work for you?" Ruby asked, Cinder smiled a bit, and chuckled.

"Basically yes." Cinder answered, and Ruby laughed a bit, the two girls fell into a conversation about their respective days, Ruby explaining everything she dealt with at Ozpin's Beacon of Law, Cinder teased the girl a bit, asking what she thought of Oscar, Ruby scoffed in response.

"He's okay, I guess." Ruby told her, the older girl smirked a bit. "He's kinda twitchy though, like Jaune, or Nora when she's hopped up on sugar." Ruby explained further, Cinder nodded, she had heard of the previous two from Ruby, and Pyrrha different times.

"Do you like him? In the crushing kind of way?" Cinder asked, and Ruby made a sound of disgust.

"Ech, no. I don't like him like that, or any boy, or anyone really!" Ruby told her, her voice getting higher, and higher. Cinder chuckled a bit, as she turned a corner onto a street lined with shops on either side, the sun had set by this point, and the shops were lined with lights, it was actually beautiful in its own special way.

"Oh? I didn't know this, are you interested in any girls?" Cinder asked, her tone still light, and teasing, Ruby just blushed as she shrugged her shoulders. She sunk in her seat out of embarrassment, Yang was pretty bad about teasing her too, but at least she could fight back against Yang, she had next to nothing on Cinder, despite living with the woman for a month now.

"Uh… that's kinda hard to answer…" Ruby said, Cinder hummed out of curiosity.

"Do explain little Rose." Cinder urged the girl on, now extremely interested in the subject. Ruby simply fidgeted a bit, poking both of her index fingers together, as she remained as red as her hoodie.

"Well… I kinda sorta, have never actually been in a relationship before. I haven't kissed anyone even! Ugh, you must think I'm so pathetic, but thats why I don't know really. I find girls generally attractive, but I don't have any experience, so I don't really know." Ruby admitted, Cinder simply hummed as she took in this new information. She pulled into a parking space in front of Roman's Salon, which was simply called Torchwick's Beautifier. Cinder looked to Ruby, and placed a hand on the girls shoulder, to attempt to comfort her.

"Well, as your roommate, and friend, I promise to do my very best to help you discover your sexuality. Short of experimenting with me, of course, that would be weird, even if you are so darn cute!" Cinder finished her sincere statement, with a teasing smirk, as she moved her hand up to pinch Ruby's cheeks, making the younger girl whine loudly, as she swatted at Cinder to let go. Once the older woman did so, she smirked at Ruby, and Ruby let out a quick breath, trying to calm her breathing.

"I don't need your help…" Ruby said, Yang had also offered to help her out, but as soon as Ruby agreed, Yang went off about Bumblebees, honey, and how sweet it was. Ruby didn't fully understand, and wasn't sure if she wanted to. Cinder simply sighed, as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Well, know that you can come to me, and I will help you to never question your sexuality again." Cinder said, as she gave that smirk she often used when talking to a particularly troublesome person, and trying to convince them of something. Ruby simply let out a sigh, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to let Cinder help her, it couldn't be worse than Yang.

"Okay, I will." Ruby agreed, as she unbuckled her seatbelt, the two got out of the car, Cinder locking it. Ruby, and Cinder made their way into Roman's salon, with Cinder leading them. She pushed open the door, and held it for Ruby who smiled, and thanked her. Several sets of eyes looked at the two girls upon entry. A pair of red eyes, one pink, and the other brown, and a pair of green eyes.

"Cinder! So gracious of you to give us your patronage, and you've brought a friend I see. Is she the latest of your conquests? Going a bit young this time I see." Roman went on, and on from behind a desk. Cinder glared at him, as Ruby followed her over to the desk. The younger girl simply looked around, not focusing on anything in particular. Cinder got up to the desk, and placed her hands upon it.

"Roman, I swear to-" Roman switfly interrupted Cinder with a wave of his hand, and a smirk upon his face.

"Hey. I'm not judging by any means. Its kinda cute, but be sure not to break her heart, poor thing probably couldn't take it. You could ruin a young girls life all for your own amusement, and how would you feel then, huh?" Roman asked, still smirking, he was annoying Cinder, and he was happy he could do that, she was so easy to wind up like that.

"Its not like that." She simply told him, not having the patience for his stupidity. "Ruby, this is Roman Torchwick, the owner of this establishment. As you can see, he's annoying." Cinder told the younger girl, who simply waved at Roman, he smirked.

"Technically Neo, and I own this place." Roman corrected Cinder, as Neo walked up to the desk as well, on Roman's side, facing Cinder, and Ruby, as Neo stared at the younger of the two. "But, Emerald will be the one dealing with your hair today, as you requested. Little Red, what are you here for, moral support or something of your own?" Roman asked, Cinder looked to Ruby, the younger girl cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Um, I just need a trim, a couple inches at the most, nothing major." Ruby answered him, Roman hummed, Cinder smiled a bit.

"Just put Ruby on my tab, Roman, and all her future visits as well, just in case." Cinder said,Ruby looked at the older woman unsure of what she was doing, Cinder simply smiled at her. "Just looking out for you, despite some people, this place is top notch. I'll not tolerate any complaining. Consider it a late birthday present." Cinder smiled at her, Ruby simply smiled, and laughed a bit.

"Thanks Cinder!" Ruby said, the other girl simply smiled at her, before she went off to have Emerald do her hair. Roman hummed, and looked Ruby up and down for a moment,before looking up at Neo.

"Neo could you trim Red's hair for her?" Roman asked, as if Neo would say no. She was the only other person besides Emerald, and himself that was working at this time. The mute girl simply nodded, and looked back to Ruby, urging her to follow with a gesture, Ruby obeyed her, as she finally looked at the other girl. Even in boots, was Neo... Shorter than her, had she finally found someone she was taller than?

Neo pointed at a chair, urging Ruby to sit, the girl did so. As soon as she sat down, Neo's fingers were on her head, tugging on hair a bit, and simply admiring how soft it was. Ruby just swallowed nervously, why wasn't this girl talking to her?

"So um… hi…" Ruby muttered, rather pathetically, Neo simply smiled at her, as she played with her hair. So the girl had heard her, but she didn't say anything still. Neo brought her fingers through Ruby's hair, reaching the point where it was normally cut, and pinched it with her fingers, as if she knew exactly where to trim it, Ruby was quite surprised at this. "That's where I usually keep it. How did you know?" Ruby asked, and after she did, Neo let go of her hair, and moved away from Ruby to Roman's desk, he was currently writing some clients times down.

"Hey, Neo! Don't take that!" Roman complained loudly once Neo opened a drawer on his desk, and snatched a picture of her picture they had taken at school. Roman had kept a lot of pictures of the girl in his desk, seemingly hidden from others. They were rather important to him. He had taken quite a few pictures of Neo over the years. Sometimes he was in them too, but mostly they centered around her, showing how much she'd grown.

Neo walked the picture over to Ruby and showed it to her. It was a picture of a girl with black hair, and pigtails, with bright green eyes. Ruby recognized the girl from her school, which she had graduated from not too long ago, due to her high testing results, and Ozpin's request that she be working at Beacon. Now Ruby took classes online to get the rest of her education, at least until she started College in a year.

"Who is that?" Ruby asked, before Neo pointed at the girl in the picture then herself. She had changed her appearance quite frequently in high school because she liked to change things up from time to time, but she frequently went back to that one look. A girl with pink, brown, and white hair was bound to stick out more than a girl with black hair after all, and she preferred to blend in.

"I... I don't get it, are you saying that's you?" Ruby asked, she had admittedly a slight crush on that girl in school, Neo nodded. Ruby just let out a sigh in frustration. "Why aren't you saying anything to me?" Roman chuckled at her words, as Neo went back to put the picture in the drawer where she found it. Ruby looked to the orange haired man, he knew why Neo wouldn't talk to Ruby.

"She can't say anything to you Red. Neo here is mute, can't utter a peep. Don't know why…" He trailed off, before smirking a bit, Ruby just tilted her head at him. "She's never told me." He said, with a smirk, making Ruby, Cinder, and Emerald grown in response. Neo just shook her head, and turned her attention back to Ruby, as she ran her fingers through the girls hair. Ruby had to admit, it did feel nice, it helped that it was Neo doing it also.

"Okay, well, I trust you Neo, lets get this started!" Ruby said excitedly, Neo simply smiled, and nodded. Roman eyed the two curiously, as did Cinder out of the corner of her eyes, Emerald didn't seem to pay much attention to anything other than Cinder's hair, she knew how scary the woman could be, especially if you messed up her hair. Ruby smiled up at Neo, as the girl began the simple trim of Ruby's hair. Roman smirked, this certainly was an interesting development, now wasn't it?


End file.
